Wheel bearings - how much grease

[leadpot]

Have cleaned & repacked my front wheel bearings. Should you fill up the spindle cavity between the bearings or leave it empty? Can you put too much in and cause it to come out into the brakes?

Thanks, leadpot

[brum1]

Spindle cavity should be left empty, pack bearing by hand forcing grease into the bearing with your finger,

[Kurt in NJ]

There is no need to fill the cavity , filed till it touches the spindle is too much, all that is really needed is that the bearing cage area is filled inside and out, all metal surfaces are coated ---there needs to be grease between the bearing races and spindle.

Yes, if there is too much grease it will be forced out ---even on cars with seals.

Also having NO dirt in the grease is important.

Filling the cavity to the level of the races has been the custom, now most of the newer car I take apart for service just have a coating in the cavity with the excess from packing the bearing spilled over.

The model A is very tolerant, and overbuilt, with large diameter wheels so the bearings don't spin very fast, or have stresses near the bearings capacity so most any amount of grease will work, but a highly stressed bearing operating under load and speed can fail from too much grease, too much grease causes high temps, causes the grease to break down.

Here is a link to Timkin bearing lubrication--
http://www.timken.com/en-us/products...ages/info.aspx

[Tom Wesenberg]

I do it pretty much as Kurt says. I put a glob of grease in my palm and keep cupping the edge of the bearing into it to fill every bit of air space around each roller, until it comes out the other end of the roller. I then coat the inside of the hub as Kurt said, and also coat the spindle. I just don't want any surface without grease, since bare metal can rust.

BTW, I save old bread and Subway bags just for this reason. I put the Subway bags over each hand, then put the glob of Mystik JT-6 high temp grease into the left hand and hold the bearing with the bag over my right hand. This way I can pack the bearings and get no grease on my hands. If the bearing is for future use I just turn the left bag inside out with the bearing inside. That way it's protected from dirt and water and neatly wrapped away.

[Chris in CT]

Hi Tom, Do the bread crumbs add to the lubricity of the grease? LOL!

[Tinker]

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I use one of these

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by Tinker

I use one of these

I bought one of these about 15 years ago ( a good one, Lisle or K-D), tried it on the new wheel bearings I was installing on my 1970 Ford F-150 Sport Custom PU, and it seemed like the grease went everywhere, EXCEPT through the bearing cage & rollers....

I went back to hand-packing like Tom described...

[leadpot]

Appreciate the advice - Thanks, leadpot

[CarlG]

I was thinking of getting one of these like Tinker uses, thought it would work really well with my pneumatic grease gun.

[Tinker]

They do work well and cheap. But to tell you the truth smashing it in with your fingers works probably just as well.

[Terry, NJ]

I was taught to do it the way Tom does it. I like Tom's addition of the plastic bags though. Great idea! We used to grease wheel bearings on airplanes during the annuals. Otherwise, I don't change the grease very often to justify one more thing around the shop. And what about Moly grease in a model A? I can't think of a reason why not, but I really don't know.
Terry

[Kurt in NJ]

Having used many types of bearing packers ---this one is what I use now, it has a cover to keep it clean in storage, and does a good job filling the bearings, and it is quick to use---no need to unscrew the greasy cones of the 2 cone style.

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/kd-h...5-p-12934.aspx